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This is my first book haul post of the year (and EVER) but I've always wanted to share to you guys a couple of memorable books that I've gotten recently and why each book is special! They've been sitting on my shelf for a while now and I thought today would be the best time to finally write a post about these lovely books, as it is the first day of the year - at least according to the Chinese calendar.

GONG XI FA CAI, btw! :)

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I purchased Eleanor & Park at the MIBF (Manila International Book Festival) a day after I read it on my Kindle. I rarely buy actual hardcopies of books if I already have purchased the said book on my Kindle, but Eleanor & Park was a rare gem that deserved to be in my Kindle and my shelf. Ergo, this book will always hold a special place in my heart! (See Review)

2. Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple

This book isn't technically mine. It's actually my friend, Eirene's. She bought it at the MIBF with me too, and lent it to me a week after. I liked the book so much that I kept 'forgetting' to return it. HAHAHAHA Okay, I will return this maybe soon. Hopefully.

When we first knew that there would be a film adaptation of TFIOS, we were very excited. We were also a bit worried because the movie might seem nothing like the book. As we watched the trailer, we realized that the movie does look pretty loyal to the book, and have really high hopes for it.

We were a bit surprised to see Augustus being played by Ansel Elgort but quickly recovered from the shock and decided that he would be able to portray the character of Augustus well. We believe that Shailene Woodley, playing Hazel, is a good choice.The music sounds pretty good too, so that's a plus! We just hope that the book will turn out into a really good film, and hopefully not be too cheesy. When the movie comes out in June, we will definitely watch it. Even though it will be hard. Okay? Okay.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Book: Something Real

Author: Heather Demetrios

Publication Date: February 4, 2014

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.

Can the person who was sent to steal your soul, be the same person who steals your heart?

The keepers are protectors of the planet Cabalin, charged with defeating identified enemies and preventing other planets from waging war on their dying planet. They are expected to keep their emotions in check and do as they are told no matter what the consequences. One of their rising warriors, however, has been placed on sabbatical for reasons unknown to those around him. Rebellious, impulsive, and moody, Ash has continued to break the rules by frequenting the Ethereal Underground, the seedy hang out in the eighth layer of the planet. Ash has always believed in the keeper’s cause, but his taste for adventure always seems to get him in trouble.

The seraphs live on a different plane of existence. They watch over the mortals and reap their souls when it is time for them to depart to the afterlife, but do not associate with the beings otherwise. They are duty bound and loyal creatures, each of them having an affinity for a force of nature that they can use when needed. When a seraph breaks the rules, they are banished and stripped of their affinity. These evil creatures are named the fallen. Annalise, a reaper seraph blessed with an affinity for water, has always followed the rules until she is called to reap Ash’s soul and take it to the afterlife. This time, however, she finds it difficult to take the soul.

Their worlds were never supposed to meet. Now everyone’s future is in jeopardy, their lives turned upside down as they find themselves on the run from the very people they thought they could count on. The two of them must search for a way to clear their names and hunt down the evil forces of the fallen, without losing themselves or those they hold dearest. This epic fantasy will take you on an exhilarating quest for love, truth, and revenge.

Brooke Kennedy and Briana Gaitan are southern natives, self-proclaimed geeks, and have been writing together for over 10 years! They have written short stories, fan-fictions, novels, and plays both together and separately. They are avid fans and writers of supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy, and romance novels. One of their goals is to write stories where there are no limits to the imagination, giving you something new and fresh each time.

Briana enjoys books, shopping, fashion, adventures and has spent countless hours dreaming of a life in space. She finds time to write in between hanging out with her three children and her husband, as well as finishing up a degree in marketing.

And We Stay is a wonderful masterpiece of prose and poetry. It's a book that mirrors the loss and tragedy of Emily's life through the main narrative and through Emily's own poetry. I've never come across a book that has tackled death and loss the way Hubbard did it in her book. Although I hate chapter in betweeners, in this novel I felt like Emily's poetry was complementary to the story and was essential to drive the plot further. At some point, I even felt like I wanted to read the poetry more than the actual narrative, as Emily became even more real through the poetry.

And We Stay was a quick read, despite the theme to be very tragic. A lot of issues such as abortion, suicide and depression were brought to light in the story, something that is very challenging to do in a decent way. I also found the characters to be very real and relatable - Emily, Paul, her friends, teachers, everyone. All the characters are believable, none of them being overly dramatic or angsty, and their actions properly justified. This is the kind of book that I felt like so many things were happening, but nothing was happening much at all. And We Stay didn't jam pack you with too much events but you could feel things happening for the characters, especially Emily as she comes to terms with her grief. Thus, there was a very calm and poetic atmosphere while reading the book - something that I appreciated immensely. There were no screaming and bawling dramatic intense scenes. It was very simple and silent, which I loved. I also love how they paralleled Emily to Emily Dickinson, I felt like it was very apt and a unique way to go with the story while at the same time having the readers learn more about Dickinson.

We were nominated for the Liebster Award by Sandra from Sandra's World of Books. We would like to thank her for that. The Liebster Awards is for small and new blogs. This is great because all of the bloggers know how it feels to have just started a blog and how hard it is to be recognized for it.

1. Link back to the blog that mentioned you.2. Answer the questions they set for the blogs they nominated.3. Nominate 10 blogs of your own, and be sure to let them know with a link to your post.4. Ask 10 questions for the blogs you nominated in your post.

So now we're gonna answer some questions.

1. Do you write stories/fanfiction?

None of us write stories or fanfictions. We do have a lot of book ideas but have never actually tried to write a book. We're scared that we'll mess it up or create a terrible book.

2. How many books do you plan to read in 2014?

We have a lot of books on our wish list for 2014 but we don't really know how many we are gonna be able to read. We do hope that by the end of this year, we will be able to read more than twenty books, each.

3. Who is your book boyfriend/girlfriend?

We can't really think of anyone...

4. Do you prefer Apple of Windows?

Apple. Though, we prefer Apple, we still have a lot of stuff that function using Windows.

5. What's the most anticipated book on your TBR list?

Oh no! This is a hard one. We have a lot of books that we want to read and it's really hard to pick just one but if we were to pick just one book, it would probably be Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters. Julie is an amazing writer and we would like to read more of her work.

Upon finishing this quite eccentric yet totally awesome book, this nonsensical blubber is the result. Mr. Sloan, I don't know where to begin with this except to tell you that: YOU ARE SUCH A NERD, BUT AN AWESOME ONE AT THAT. Really. Awesome.

Okay so maybe I have overused the word 'awesome' already, but I cannot think of a better word to describe this feeling I have in connection to this awesome book. Okay enough with the awesomes.

The hero of this novel is Clay Jannon, a graphic designer with mediocre programming skills who has become unemployed due to the recession. He ends up with the late night shift at a bookstore, where everything is not what it seems. The rules set by the mysterious owner Mr. Penumbra are at first simple: 1. You must not be late. 2. You must not browse, read or inspect the shelved volumes in the bookstore (otherwise known as the Wayback List).

Well, obviously, curiosity strikes and Clay finds himself breaking the rules Penumbra laid down for him, as Penumbra always hoped and expected him to. From this, Clay discovers that this isn't about a weird book club for old people, but is actually a secret society trying to decode a 500-year old encoded volume with gibberish language that actually contains the secret to the greatest question: How do we live forever?

When I was younger, I used to dream about a world of my own. It would be beautiful, perfect and of course I'd be the queen. This book reminded me of those times. Though Ambrosia was not the place I have always imagined, it still brings to mind how a different world, a world that is not just earth, could exist. It is utterly fascinating, making me wish that this place was real. I could see it in my mind, it was so vivid! The author has constructed a world, has molded it into something so intruiging, so broken yet perfect at the same time.

I am not the kind of person who gets lost in a book. I admit that at first, I didn't really like the book but as the plot thickened and more secrets were unraveled, I found myself unable to put the book down. I anticipated every turn of the page, I hung on to every word.

This is the first comic or graphic novel I've read this year (and in a long time). I love art and illustrations but for some reason, the last I've read are Archie comics, WITCH comics and the occasional manga (they weren't actually occasional they were pretty frequent). I don't really know what got into me that I stopped reading comic books or was never into them in the first place. I've always planned on reading Marvel comics or DC comics but I didn't know where to get them so it never happeend. I guess what I'm saying is I am not that kind of geek.

But I wanted to widen my horizons and decided to start reading more graphic novels this year. When I received an arc of Monsters & Other Stories, I thought why not? And it is definitely the perfect graphic novel for everyone who wants to get into comics.

Just a little anecdote before I begin with my review. I once had a film professor, who is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the country, before who told me that we shouldn't make films that had no sound - in other words, he was saying that the silence can be awkward. He said that dead air can be quite deafening and that it is a big no-no in filmmaking. They were great words of advice, but I guess what he told us only applied to film.

Because sometimes the silence is not defeaning, but actually very comforting.

Reading Monsters & Other Stories was like that - like watching an animated silent film. It had no dialogue so you had to make sense of all the illustrations - which were all very graphic and full of detail. But in this case, the lack of dialogue was what pushed the plot and made it all the more an enjoyable read. It wasn't awkward to not have the characters talk or have a dialogue bubble following them around. It was strangely liberating, as we as the readers are for the first time given the creative freedom to make sense of the story in our own ways. I myself do admit that I prefer words over pictures any day, but this one made me appreciate the silence and the independent license to interpret the tale into whatever way you want.

The stories were also very brilliant, eccentric yet brilliant. The first had elements of aliens and pigs, the second had the Reaper and some chickens and the third involved giant monsters attacking the city with an unlikely hero saving the day. My favorite would have to be the first one, it was so morbidly funny I tried to imagine it being colored, and then dismissed the idea when I started imagining seeing the blood and all those gore. That would just be too much.

Monsters & Other Stories was altogether a very enjoyable read. It did not feel like just looking at flat 2 dimensional pictures - instead the story and the characters all sprang to life and I was seeing them all dancing in my head as if they were all real. On the first level I was just reading the book and scrolling through the pictures, but in a deeper level I was experiencing the book and felt like I was a part of it - observing the story in front of me. The drawings were so imaginative but also vivid and real at the same time. The stories were all so wonderful, they made you think and ponder over what happened, encouraging the readers to think outside the box, and that sometimes you overlook things by not looking at the bigger picture. This is the kind of book that will make you think - it borders satire yet still can be passed as an innocent cartoon.

I would recommend this book to open minded readers who can make sense of alien pigs, chicken in suits and giant monsters. Of course, I am talking about children.

But if you still have the childlike wonder and awe inside you, then this book is also for you.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Did I mention that it's my birthday today? Happy birthday to me!! Anyway, after celebrating my birthday I decided to go looking for books that I should read this year. As I was looking for books, I remembered that there's this one book that I reaaallllly wanna read.

Book: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publication Date: July 8, 2014

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing people at Broke and Bookish. This week's topic is all about what topics we would want to make writers write.

We will start off with:

1. The Double Life and Troubles of a Shopaholic

We are so eager for this book to exist the we've already planned out what it will be about and what the title will be! This book will basically be Beryl's autobiography - shopaholic by day, geek nerd by night (because why can't you be BOTH?)! We will, of course, make it sound more exciting than it actually is, funnier, wittier, and infinitely less boring. How will Beryl overcome the slow internet connection or the curse of boring math teachers? Find out in this amazing autobiography!

2. YA fiction genre about cavemen

Okay, it might be a bit weird but seriously, how many of us have read or even know about such a thing? Wouldn't a book like that be fascinating?

3. A book about dolls coming to life once a year and causing mayhem

The book will tell you why the dolls do such things. We would also like the book to portray their actions as reasonable and maybe even rational.

4. A book about the life of a blogger

We want the book to show how hard it is to manage a blog and also how stressful it is to do it. We also want the book to show why even though blogging is hard stressful, and tiring, we still do it. We can't let it go. It's challenging and fun at the same time.

5. An eighth Harry Potter book

Okay, that sounds a bit vague but we actually have got this very detailed. We want it to become a new companion series to the original Harry Potter books and it will be set in the MARAUDER ERA and will be a prequel to the 1st 7 books! Yay!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We realized that the 3 of us haven't done any joint blogs in a while, and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do so! Last week was the 2nd week of classes and all 3 of us already had so much schoolwork assigned to us in school. Beryl and Audrey with their Chinese exams, and Kimi with her thesis (which shows zero progress, as mentor does not seem enthusiastic about letting them defend on time, but whatevs! Who cares!)Nevertheless, it was a productive week for us all, with our book blogging journey.LAST WEEK'S READS

Have I ever told anyone that I love love love Ariana Grande? It's actually pretty crazy that out of all celebrities out there, Ariana is the only one who I can say is my inspiration (big word guys). There was even a time that I chose Ariana to be the one who I should dress as and act like in class. That was a long time ago and the only song of Ariana's that I knew was Put Your Hearts Up, so I sang that one. Pretty embarassing really.

Why do I love Ariana? Because she's adorable and simple and amazing in every way. She does whatever she wants and doesn't care about all those haters. Plus, she has the best vocals ever!

She also wears the BEST clothes ever!

Enough of my fangirling, I'm just gonna go straight to the point. I was scrolling over my photo albums then I noticed that I have A LOT of Ariana Grande quotes, so why don't I share them to you?

And I had to do it alone too, since my co-bloggers, Beryl and Audrey had *other* stuff to do (Guys, I am judging you for not going - haha just kidding, love you guys).

Anyway, I spent the whole day at National Book Store just waiting for Gayle to finally arrive. All the while, I was reading. I actually finished 3 books that day!

Oh and I also met some really cool and friendly girls, who talked to me and fangirled with me over my favorite books. Our discussion ranging from what year in school we are currently in to our thoughts about John Green. Cool, eh? We screamed for Gayle together, we squealed together, we laughed together, we got squished together! Only regret: WE NEVER ASKED FOR EACH OTHER'S NAMES! Why?!

Since it's the beginning of a new term and it well feels like the calm before the storm (seriously. really.), I haven't got much to do, so I've been on a reading spree for the past week. Wait, I'm ALWAYS on a reading spree! Anyway, I've made it one of my goals to read more LGBT books this 2014, so I decided to take all this free time (just for now) to read Luna and Two Boys Kissing! :)Here are short blurbs/reviews of both books!

Before anything else, I'd just like to say that I am very open about societal issues, especially on GENDER, and am a loud and proud feminist (though I may not agree with the term since I think it is gender biased - but anyway that's a different issue altogether). With that, I can't stress how ecstatic I am that this book exists. This is the first time I've read a book that tackles issues about transgender teens, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Told from the point of view of the sister Reagan, this story magnificently introduces us to Liam, a troubled teenager girl stuck in a male's body, who only uncovers her real self at night, when she becomes Luna. The novel shows the realities of what these people go through with self identity, discovery and acceptance.

I am very thankful that I was able to read this. When I first saw the synopsis, I admit I wasn't all that excited about it but now that I have read the story, I know that if I hadn't read this story I would have missed out on a lot.

This story is about a young girl named Ophelia whose mother has just died. Ophelia, her father, and her sister have different ways of mourning their mother's death. The father immerses himself in his work, Alice, the sister, starts spending more time on her looks and with the fashionable Miss Kaminski, and Ophelia wanders around the museum. As Ophelia explores the museum she meets a boy and together they recover a sword and save the world (with a bit of her family's help too).

Teenagers have always been a mystery to adults, but honestly we're not that mysterious. Adults misunderstand us. They think we're the kind of people who will end up homeless and unemployed. They think that we're disrespectful, sarcastic, shallow people who will end up becoming bums and/or couch potatoes. Well, we're not (although, inevitably, some of us will). Adults judge. Some of them act like they know everything, not accepting correction.

I would like to talk about some topics that involve our generation and adults.

1. Technology

All that talk about technology ruling the younger generation's brains, making us more and more stupid everyday, is absolute crap. It's just not true. Adults also use a lot of gadgets! Some of them even rely on it more than we do! Some of them think that you won't get anything done without gadgets. Those people probably wouldn't stand a day without their phones or their computers. It's true that some teenagers are like that too. I am as guilty of this as the unnamed adults that I am talking about. Gadgets aren't useless but they aren't the way to everything either.

2. Assumptions

Let me just say that I hate it when adults assume things that aren't even remotely correct. They judge people by how they dress. They judge books and movies by the covers or the titles and I just hate that. I know that when they do this they're just looking out for us, but that doesn't make it less frustrating. I hate it when adults say that a book is not appropriate simply because of the title or the cover. I hate it when adults say that a person must be bad just because they dress in the wrong color, or if they frown too much.

The perfect DIY nail manicure is here! Yesterday, my best friend and I got bored and tried painting our nails but since we thought that we could make our own nails and boost our creativity, we tried two kinds of nail arts.

I had just gotten home from school, kicked off my shoes, sat on the couch, was ready to commence my Lazy Kimi Do Nothing After School Wednesdays (and Thursdays and Fridays and Mondays and Tuesdays) when I got on Twitter and saw this:

Book: City of Heavenly Fire

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication date: May 27, 2014

From Goodreads:

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

Have you seen the 2014 Golden Globes awards? Or rather the question is WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN THE GOLDEN GLOBES YET?

Everyone loves the Golden Globes, and we all kind of question why other awards shows can't be like the Golden Globes - because face it other awards shows (not naming any shows here!) are just lame. Or maybe the proper question is - why can't Tina Fey and Amy Poelher host EVERY awards show and why can't Jennifer Lawrence win every award in every awards show?

Ok, now that I'm reading that paragraph it all feels like an awards show tongue twister, with all the times I've used 'awards show' in a sentence.

Anyway, since I just adore the Golden Globes, I think it is apt to share my favorite moments of this wonderful, wonderful awards show! (There I said it again)

Cursed Hearts by Light and Lowell is like a magical love story with witches, werewolves, vampires and many more. For me, it's a good book to read if you just want to relax and get lost with what you are reading.

Pros:

The book was a very, very interesting read and takes you to a place that you would never want to leave. The characters weren't perfect and had problems that you could relate to. It isn't all about the love story and the couple's relationship development but also about family, loss, standing up for yourself, sexuality. As the book progresses, the writing steadily gets better. Also, there are a lot of twists and turns that would leave you hanging on to Light and Lowell's every word. I felt a sense of lost when the book ended because I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to keep reading and reading the same book over and over again. It's interesting, curious, fresh, and definitely not your cliché bella-edward-jacob love story. I love how Light and Lowell thought about the plot since it's really complex.

Pigments of My Imagination is about Lucia, an artist prodigy who is about to enter her new school at Bayside Academy. Yet even if others would be thrilled to be at one of the most prestigious and advanced art schools, Lucia is nothing but bothered, as she has always felt as if she knows people (déjàvu, she has always dismissed it), and it has become even worse when she arrives at her new school. Her mother would send her to psychologists and after each session, she would feel better, not knowing that her memories are being repressed. Yet, Lucia still has an empty feeling, as if she has to remember something but can't - until she meets Leo. And then we find out that Lucia and Leo are two lovers, part of the Soul Painters, a group of artists who have been reincarnated over and over again. And Lucia finds out that she has started a war several lifetimes ago, and it will never end until she does something about it.

Pigments of my Imagination was definitely a fascinating read. I found Angela Kulig's writing so vivid and real. She was able to paint the setting quite so remarkably I could imagine the story play out in my head. The premise of POMI is very interesting and unique. For one, it's a reincarnation plot which has been done over and over again. But on the other hand, it uses art as the central key to the story. It is not just about fates, harpies and all sorts of magical creatures but it also talks about art and its beauty or curses. It's unlike any book I've ever read. At first I thought it to be a Mortal Instruments/Twilight crossover, but surprisingly it is actually very very different although some elements were similar. It didn't dwell much on the romance between Lucia or Leo, and the approach wasn't melodramatic with the story - though there were some melodramatic revelations.